New York City’s spring art fair season is almost upon us, and this year’s lineup promises another busy few months. The Affordable Art Fair kicks off the madness on March 20, and Brooklyn’s Other Art Fair will wrap up the season’s offerings when it closes on May 19. Hyperallergic has your complete guide to navigating it all, below.
Affordable Art Fair
True to its name, the Affordable Art Fair offers artworks priced between $100 and $12,000 for all the budding collectors out there. Back for its 37th edition, the show brings together pieces by hundreds of artists in a vast array of media, from paintings and prints to sculptures and photographs.
Affordable Art Fair (affordableartfair.com)
The Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
March 20–24
The Photography Show presented by AIPAD
The longest-running fair focused entirely on photography brings together 78 galleries from around the world, almost doubling the size of last year’s show and returning to its former location at the Park Avenue Armory for a grandiose homecoming.
The Photography Show (aipad.com)
Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan
April 25–28
Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair
If you’re a fan of art and books, this annual fair organized by Printed Matter is just the event for you. The bustling hub for small publishers, artists, zine-makers, and lovers of literature in many forms returns to its new home in Chelsea for the second year in a row. Several floors brim with a spectrum of books, from hefty catalogues to limited-run artist publications, plus selections of other printed ephemera.
NY Art Book Fair (printedmatter.org)
548 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
April 25–28
Frieze New York
Despite its big name in the art world, Frieze New York has recently become more intimate, and accordingly, sharper and more defined. Don’t miss the Focus Section, which showcases galleries still in their adolescence (10 years or younger), historically home to the strongest and most experimental booths on view.
Frieze New York (frieze.com)
545 West 30th Street, Hudson Yards, Manhattan
May 1–5
Future Art Fair
Future is a relative newcomer to the city’s packed fair scene, but the program has made a splash over the past few seasons. The show attracts a mix of new and established galleries, and this spring’s edition will feature 60 NYC, national, and international exhibitors. Future also voices a commitment to pay transparency and operated a profit sharing model during its first five years.
Future Art Fair (futurefairs.com)
Chelsea Industrial, 538 West 28th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
May 1–4
NADA New York
As the name New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) indicates, you’ll find largely younger galleries that are in the midst of building both their rosters and their identities: There are many diamonds in a lot of rough. The roof presentation is always fun, too, especially welcome after a cold New York winter.
NADA New York (newartdealers.org)
548 West 22nd Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
May 2–5
Clio Art Fair
Clio bills itself as the “anti-fair” in that it eschews galleries in favor of artists themselves, specifically those without exclusive gallery representation in New York. Unlike most other art fairs or the galleries that surround this venue, visitors could potentially walk away with a piece or two, with price points as low as around $100.
Clio Art Fair (clioartfair.com)
550 West 29th Street, Chelsea, Manhattan
May 2–5
Independent Art Fair
This fair of contemporary art is refreshingly digestible — and, thankfully, navigable. Its short history since its inception in 2010 boasts some of the first showings of now-established names, and more are likely to come in this year’s edition.
Independent Art Fair (independenthq.com)
Spring Studios, 50 Varick Street, Tribeca, Manhattan
May 9–12
TEFAF New York
TEFAF drops the word “prestigious” in the first sentence of its info page. Sure enough, the fair historically stocks the low-lit, hallowed halls of the Armory with works by canonical 20th-century artists, in addition to contemporary works and design objects. If you can’t make it to the Upper East Side, there is an online edition as well, alongside robust programming.
TEFAF New York (tefaf.com)
643 Park Ave, Upper East Side, Manhattan
May 10–14
The Other Art Fair
This Brooklyn-based fair’s website promises that “here, art is for everyone,” which, when compared to the hallowed halls of the Armory or the slick Shed, should already give you a sense of its “Other”- ness. An affordable entrance fee gives you the opportunity to sip on a drink and peruse artworks with prices as low as $50.
The Other Art Fair (theotherartfair.com)
ZeroSpace Brooklyn, 337–345 Butler Street, Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
May 16–19
